I've never built a PC before, and I am going to be transitioning from my iMac to this gaming rig if all goes well. I am not really hardware literate, so I am looking for feedback on what could be changed, improved, added on, etc. I am open to ideas, it is important that if I need to in the future, be able to upgrade this machine if needed.

Basically, I want a game that can play Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn at max settings. I also plan on playing the new Sim City game.

I believe that is all that I need... Again, I am very ignorant to all of this, so please correct me if I am wrong,... USB ports, wifi, etc is in the motherboard correct?? Please let me know if I am missing anything as well.

Things I think I need??:

- Soundcard??- Case** I have no idea what to pick that'll house all of this.- Power Supply??- A Fan ??

Overkill on so many levels for just a gaming rig. Plan on overclocking? I'd avoid that motherboard and go with Gigabyte or Asus, z77series, because the cpu already has graphics in the processor.Or even a budget MSI or biostar if you dont plan to overclock.A 3750k wold be as fast or faster in games then the 3770k would, and you could use the extra 100 for an ssd .Also if you dont plan to overclock, The "K" series processor is a waste of money.upgrade to a 1TB WD along with a 128 or 256 ssd as your operating system drive and the speed will scare you, and spoil you. I prefer samsung 830 or 840 series SSD or the Crucial M4.DDR3 1600 ram is cheaper and you'll never notice any difference anyway.Buy a good 600 watt or higher psu such as corsair or seasonic with active pfc. Dont skimp!coolermaster cases are nice and the HAF 912 is cheap and cools well.cpu cooling Budget ;Coolermaster hyper 212. If your overclocking? Thermaltake water 2.0 extreme, works well with the newest 1155 cpu'sGenerally onboard sound is extremely good on 1155 motherboards.Unless you have thousands invested in audio equipment, a sound card is a waste of money.The 660ti is an impressive gpu and can handle anything you could throw at it in most cases. maybe overkill too.

Overkill on so many levels for just a gaming rig. Plan on overclocking? I'd avoid that motherboard and go with Gigabyte or Asus, z77series, because the cpu already has graphics in the processor.Or even a budget MSI or biostar if you dont plan to overclock.A 3750k wold be as fast or faster in games then the 3770k would, and you could use the extra 100 for an ssd .Also if you dont plan to overclock, The "K" series processor is a waste of money.upgrade to a 1TB WD along with a 128 or 256 ssd as your operating system drive and the speed will scare you, and spoil you. I prefer samsung 830 or 840 series SSD or the Crucial M4.DDR3 1600 ram is cheaper and you'll never notice any difference anyway.Buy a good 600 watt or higher psu such as corsair or seasonic with active pfc. Dont skimp!coolermaster cases are nice and the HAF 912 is cheap and cools well.cpu cooling Budget ;Coolermaster hyper 212. If your overclocking? Thermaltake water 2.0 extreme, works well with the newest 1155 cpu'sGenerally onboard sound is extremely good on 1155 motherboards.Unless you have thousands invested in audio equipment, a sound card is a waste of money.The 660ti is an impressive gpu and can handle anything you could throw at it in most cases. maybe overkill too.

I pretty much agree with most of what darconf says... except I would go more high end on the graphics card or go dual... Games are becoming more and more graphically intense (altho' still relying a lot on CPU power)... My 670 even struggles with Skyrim on ultra settings...

Thanks for your input(s), I figured it would be overkill, but I also wanted a system that'll last me a couple of years, and if I needed to upgrade then I'll easily be able to. Like I said before, I don't really know what I am doing, heh. So going from what you just told me how does this look? Also, I don't plan on overclocking..

Thanks! I made a few modifications. I replaced a few things that I added initially with some of the items that you've mentioned, and a few other ones just to save a little bit on money. Here is my final build, any last comments, concerns, etc? Let me know, I'll check on this thread in the morning before I place my order. Thank you all.

Get a bigger SSD if you can afford it.
Can't say anything about the MSI cards, haven't used any of their stuff for years now. Quality wasn't all that good back then.
Asus and Gigabyte are both good brands IMO.

Seems good though.

Just finished rebuilding mine into the 942 HAF case. The only real problem was the Cooler Master sticker on the front of the case wasn't quite straight!! lol

I was reading the reviews on that MSI card, and they seem pretty positive, but I saw a lot of random freeze ups, crashes on them as well. Is their a comparable card you would recommend, or should I just get that one? I don't plan on overclocking or anything like that.

Also, how hard is it to assemble these things? Will everything fit in that case? And one last question, what version of windows 8 should I get? 32/64 regular/pro?

With the graphics cards, I've been getting gigabyte lately. Currently using 2 GTX 670's in SLI. Haven't had a problem with them at all.

As for building, it can seem a bit daunting at first. But it is a very straight forward process overall and a lot of fun. Just double check everything you do!

When I put mine together the other night, after putting all the covers on with total confidence, I was finally ready to test it. Pressed the on button.... nothing.
Turned out after I'd re-routed some cables to make it a bit neater, I'd forgotten to replace the front panel connectors.